Shadow Correspondent
kathua, Mar 27:
Expressing serious concern over the deteriorating situation of the farmers and border dwellers of Jammu region, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh Chairman JKNPP and former Minister admonished both the BJP at the centre and the erstwhile coalition in the State for despicably ignoring their issues and pitting them against all sort of miseries. He said that the Saffron party which always trumpeted itself as ‘Champion’ of Jammu Pradesh bartered away the aspirations of the Dogras to its Kashmir centric ally for the sake of power crumbs, while the discrimination with the border residents and the farming community of the region also bore the brunt of the Saffron acquiesce. He was addressing a series of public meetings at Mawa, Madoon and Malani villages of Hiranagar segment of Udhampur parliamentary constituency today. Deeply anguished over the miserable plight of the border dwellers all along the IB and LoC in Jammu region and Hiranagar in particular, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh said that the Saffron leaders had been doling promises and assurances to the border residents time and again for their relief and rehabilitation but nothing tangible had been delivered so far. He said that the Pakistan had been pounding the border hamlets persistently with mortar shells and missiles taking a heavy toll on our security personnel besides causing huge damage to lives of border dwellers, cattle stock and crops. “What happened to the Saffron promises of allotment of 5 Marla of land for each family at safer zones, 20,000 bunkers for emergency situation, adequate ex-gratia to each of the family of the person killed in Pak firing and employment for the next of kin of the deceased? What is the fate of adequate assessment based compensation for the loss of crops and live stock as relief and rehabilitation measures for the affected people including the farmers living in the forward hamlets?”, anguished Harsh asked. He wondered that how could BJP Ministers enjoy the loaves of power and keep their ally in good humour when their own people were afflicted with pain, chagrin and outrage.
Supporting the cause of the farmers of Jammu region, Mr. Singh made a scathing attack on the erstwhile State govt for pushing them into the furnace of starvation.
“The compensation to the farmers of the region against the loss caused by the incessant rains of September 2014 had not been paid until now”, Harsh lamented. He further regretted that the farmers whose lands had been acquired by the State government for Ring road construction were still looking at the dispensation for adequate compensation. “Acquiring land from the peasants at meagre prices narrates the sordid tale of the BJP robbing the due share of the aggrieved farmers. Why the ‘Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act’ (LARR Act of 2013) was not extended to the state of J&K? Why the farming community could not be provided adequate compensation at four times the market value of the land like other farmers of the country?”, Harsh questioned.
While addressing the local issues, he said that several villages of Hiranagar segment were facing shortage of health care facilities. He said that the roads were lying in the dilapidated condition and the shortage of power and water supply had also added to the woes of the people which needed a special attention of the local administration. He appealed to the people to support their own Panthers party in the Lok Sabha elections which was well versed with the pain of the people. He said that Delhi and Kashmir based parties had not been able to provide succor to the people but NPP had the guts to rake up all Jammu centric issues efficiently and provide justice to the people who were facing socio-political discrimination since decades.
